MI Emirates march into their second ILT20 final as Kieron Pollard creates history as captain

Daily Update, Sports

MI Emirates qualified for the final of the International T20 League with a comfortable win over Abu Dhabi Knight Riders. With this win, Kieron Pollard also created history as captain in the shortest format of the game. He joined the elite list of Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni, amongst others.

Sharjah:

MI Emirates set the finals date with Desert Vipers in the fourth edition of International League T20 with a comfortable victory over Abu Dhabi Knight Riders in the second qualifier in Sharjah. It was yet another comprehensive performance from the 2024 champions as they chased down the humble target of 121 runs with seven wickets in hand. With this win, Kieron Pollard also created history in T20 cricket as captain, completing his 100 victories while at the helm in the format.

Pollard became only the sixth captain in the history of T20 cricket to achieve the historical landmark and joins the elite list of MS Dhoni, James Vince, Rohit Sharma, Faf du Plessis and Daren Sammy to do so in the shortest format of the game. Dhoni, on expected lines, is on top of the list with a staggering 192 wins while Rohit stands in this aspect, having secured 140 victories as captain of India and Mumbai Indians.

What happened in the match?

As far as the match is concerned, MI Emirates limited the Knight Riders to just 120 runs after opting to bowl first. Allah Ghazanfar, Muhammad Rohid Khan and Fazalhaq Farooqi shared seven wickets between them. Meanwhile, for the Knight Riders, Alishan Sharafu smashed an unbeaten 50 but the rest of the batsmen struggled as they could only post 120 runs for the loss of eight wickets.

In reaction, MI Emirates also struggled to get going and at 36/2 after 7.1 overs, it seemed that the match could go down to the wire. However, Shakib Al Hasan and Tom Banton had other ideas as they stitched 82 runs together for the third wicket with the latter scoring an unbeaten 63 off 53 balls. The UAE chased down the target in just 16.1 overs to lock their spot in the final yet again.

Second final for MI Emirates, and a third for the Desert Vipers. Remember,MI Emirates lifted the trophy in the second edition, while the Vipers are still in pursuit of their maiden title. Can they finally get it done this time around? It’s all set up for a cracker of a final on Sunday in Dubai. Do make sure to join us for that all-important clash. Until then, cheers and farewell!!
Kieron Pollard: Emotions are high, emotions are great. The way the guys have performed throughout the entire tournament – you can’t fault them. We’ve had guys coming in and guys going out. Just before the toss, we had an injury as well, and the guys reacted pretty well. You can put it down to a bit of everything. It was still a decent batting track. It went on a bit in the second innings because of the dew, which we knew was going to come in. In games like these, on a small ground like this, it’s very important to see what’s in front of you. It’s very hard to defend runs on a small ground. The way we started at the eight-over stage, I knew that if we stuck with it, 140 would have been challenging. If you look at the history of the Knight Riders (talking about 4 overs of spin in the powerplay) and their batsmen, they like the ball coming onto the bat. In the third and fourth overs when the seamers bowled, their backlifts were higher and they looked more confident. I had to mix and match to get the combination right within the first six overs. In the last two games we played against them, spin came up triumphs as well. They’re (Desert Vipers) going to be a challenge. I said after the last game when they beat us that they’ve played tremendous cricket throughout the tournament. We should not feel sorry for ourselves because of the way they went about it. For us, the pressure is back on them. They haven’t won. We understand what it takes to win. They’ve been to the final a couple of times and faltering. For us, it is about continuing our process, not getting too far ahead of ourselves, and playing cricket the way we have been playing it. We’ve been here for over six weeks. It comes down to one final game and one ultimate effort.

Shakib Al Hasan | Player of the Match:

MI Emirates It was a very important, must-win game for both teams. Winning the toss helped, and I thought our bowlers were exceptional. We kept taking wickets, which was the key. Gazanfar bowled superbly, and the others supported him well without giving away too many runs. That prevented them from building partnerships. With the bat, it was about spending time at the fold and managing the spinners. That was my role today, and I’m glad I could do it for the team. The pitch offered something for the bowlers and wasn’t easy to score freely on. Sensible batting was necessary, but in a pressure game, losing wickets regularly makes it very difficult to recover. Before the game, it was clear that my role was to take on the spinners while Tom batted through. I was able to take the pressure off him, and he played a special innings. Batting at the top for 15 or 16 overs is invaluable in T20 cricket, and he has been doing that consistently for us. We’re very thankful to him.

Jason Holder

It was a tough wicket to start on, and we didn’t get going in the powerplay. Scoring 120 on this pitch was always going to be challenging – it was quite dreary and a bit wet, making it hard to defend. I thought the bowlers did a reasonable job trying to protect the total, but it was always a tall ask. Considering where we were at the midway point of the competition, it’s a decent effort to get this far. But looking at it holistically, we likely fell short and let ourselves down a little. That said, I credit everyone in the dressing room and the support staff. The effort to regroup every day and make the playoffs was tremendous, even though we couldn’t go deeper. From a tournament perspective, our local players were outstanding. Ajay was outstanding all season, and Ali Sharafu was another big positive. Those two were real bright spots. It was also great to see Peps (Pepper) come back into the tournament and contribute. MI Emirates Salty showed immense character managing his injuries, and Livvy (Livingstone) chipped in as well. Everyone contributed at different stages; we just couldn’t put it all together consistent. That’s cricket sometimes.